READING, Pa. – The Juniata women's soccer team suffered a tough, 2-1, loss to Albright College in the opening round of the ECAC Tournament on Saturday evening.
Meadow Walshaw-Wertz (Sunbury, Pa./Line Mountain) had the lone goal for the Eagles, scoring off an assist from Carly Altenberg (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) in the second half.
Both teams had opportunities in the first half, but only Albright could find the mark. Shannon Kriz (Breinigsville, Pa./Parkland) made a diving save to her left to stop a penalty kick in the third minute of the game, but Albright continued to put pressure on the Eagle defense. The Lions scored their first goal in the 13th minute of play after a blocked shot was gathered and placed inside the net. Kristin Racis (Womelsdorf, Pa./Conrad Weiser) fired a shot on goal before the half was over, but it was stopped by the Albright keeper.
The Eagles came out strong in the second half, forcing four saves on six shot attempts in the first 20 minutes of the period, but the Lions pushed back. Albright scored in the 68th minute to go up 2-0.
Less than 10 minutes later, Altenberg ran down a ball that was played diagonally from the right wing and crossed it back across the middle. Walshaw-Wertz came crashing towards net, slid and kicked the ball across the net to make it 2-1. Juniata was unable to get past the Lion's defense for the remainder of the half, dropping the contest 2-1.
Kriz had four saves. Albright held a 13-11 edge in shots and 7-6 edge in corner kicks in the tightly contested matchup.
"A tale of two halves," said head coach Scott McKenzie. "If we would have been able to play with the same energy in the first half as we did in the second, we would have put ourselves in a better position for a positive result. Hats off to this team for a terrific season that prepares us well for success in 2018."
The Eagles end their season 10-9.